What're the odds that, like everything else in his life, he has not advanced one iota since then and the only way you'd be able to tell the difference between Bob then and now is the number of grey hairs on his head?
Something else that I've never even thought of, didn't Bob say that the channel was some kind of religious channel? Why would Bob, who swore there was no God after his dog died as a child, would work for a religious station? Did I make up that factoid in a drunken stupor? If not is Bob just that stupid or is this one of Bob's greatest lies?
No it was just local cable. He reports nothing about the show being religious, just that the person running it was. here's the passage out of his book:
Meanwhile, my second Blockbuster job led me to what seemed at the
time like a stroke of great fortune: an older gentleman (who will remain
nameless) came in asking if he could leave some flyers—turns out, he was
starting up a film criticism show for local cable-access television and was
looking for on-air talent. Store policy said I had to tell him no, but it said
nothing about me volunteering for the position myself. After a set of meetings
and conversations, I was hired to do the show along with this person and
a female co-host. The resulting show was… what you’d expect from local
cable, but it was exposure and a chance to work on my “craft,” such as it
was. I was the colorful member of the team, the younger guy with the wild
opinions and the deeper film knowledge. It was a fun time… while it lasted.
I’d never gotten much of a sense that anything was especially “off”
about the guy running the show. I knew he was fairly conservative politically
– ex-military and an ex-cop – but it had never come up in any kind of negative
way. But upon the release of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” and the
controversy surrounding it something seemed to change in him. I was fairly
certain both co-hosts knew that I’d seen the film and hadn’t cared for it, and
expected it would make a good show when we sat down to review it. Instead,
I got a phone call, and an unnervingly scary life experience.
My employer (though, for the record, I wasn’t technically being “paid”
for my services on the show) summoned me to a “meeting” in his van, in an
empty parking lot early in the morning. He did freelance security work (or
he said he did, at least), and was “on the job.” This set off more red flags
than I could count, but I showed up to meet him. He presented me with a
printout of a scathing blog review I’d posted after seeing the film the first
time, and wanted to know what I had “against Jesus Christ.” Unwisely, I
offered that my objection was to the anti-Semitism in the film and was told
“Those people had ‘Schindler’s List,’ now this is our turn”… I was then told
that he would be using the “Passion” discussion as an occasion to promote the
film’s “positive message,” and that if I wouldn’t go along (by saying I liked
the movie) my time on the show would be over.
And that was that. I never heard from the guy again, but I know his show
didn’t last long without me. I’m told he’d behaved in a manner (because it’s
hearsay I won’t get into specifics) that disturbed the production staff during
the taping of the “Passion” episode, and that my name had come up, which
had me walking around more than a little paranoid for a few weeks; but
nothing ever came of it.